Celtic fans will be heading into Bank Holiday Monday with a smile following the Bhoys’ comfortable 3-0 victory over Heart of Midlothian yesterday.
Kyogo Furuhashi settled any nerves within four minutes by directing Reo Hatate’s intelligent pick-out past Zander Clarke despite a strange VAR check momentarily delaying celebrations.
Nevertheless, the goal stood, and Celtic kept their foot on the accelerator in search of a second, which they duly found in the 21st minute.
Matt O’Riley received the ball on the left flank before picking Furuhashi out with a stunning through ball, leading our talisman to evade the Hearts central defenders to flash a low volley into the bottom corner for his 18th strike of the campaign in 46 appearances [Transfermarkt].
In the second half, Celtic made light work of any pressure from the away side, though Joe Hart was called into action, making a smart reflex stop to deny Yutaro Oda.
With 87 minutes on the clock, O’Riley rounded off an inspired display by rifling a penalty into the top corner after Lawrence Shankland was penalised for a blatant handball in the area.
Post-match, Brendan Rodgers revealed Gavin Strachan and Greg Wallace’s role in orchestrating set-piece routines, which he directly attributed to the Hoops’ opening goal.
He stated: “Kyogo, he was so alive in the box for the first goal. I thought we were really dangerous today from our set-pieces. The delivery was really good. It’s a big credit to Gavin Strachan and Greg Wallace – they look after our set-pieces. He scores with a great header.”
Kyogo Furuhashi’s brilliant Celtic pledge after double
Furuhashi continues to be Celtic’s talisman and possesses unique reliability to score decisive goals on key occasions, which will one day become his lasting legacy at Parkhead.
Despite having to adapt under Rodgers, the Japan international still has plenty of time to surpass the 20-goal mark this campaign over our final four fixtures.
Taking to Instagram, the 29-year-old has delivered a brilliant pledge to the Celtic support, as he vowed to continue hitting the target alongside thanking the fans for their unwavering backing yesterday.
As seen above, he added: ‘I’m full of gratitude to everyone who always supports me. I will continue to do my best to score many goals from now on.’
Celtic used Furuhashi’s expert movement to their full advantage yesterday, and you get the feeling that he still has more in the tank across the remainder of the run-in.
With the Glasgow Derby on the horizon, the 29-year-old will have a chance to come into his own against an opponent he usually manages to thrive against.
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